… “I’m happy my daughter did not deny Christ” – Father Nata Sharibu, father of the only student of Federal Government Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State who is yet to be freed, says Boko Haram insurgents decided not to release his daughter because she refused to denounce Christ. A total of 110 students were abducted when Boko Haram terrorists raided the school on February 19, 2018. In a dramatic manner, the insurgents returned the girls to Dapchi on Wednesday, March 20. The media had earlier reported that Leah Sharibu did not make it back to Dapchi, apart from…

On March 11, for many Nigerian families, 2018 has become a nigtmare on account of deaths resulting from auto accidents and violent crimes. Just about 10 weeks into the new year, the country has lost 1,351 to violent deaths,according to Sunday Vanguard checks. Last month, no fewer than 517 people died violently, across the country. In January, about 676 Nigerians were cut down through herdsmen and farmers clashes, sectarian crises, communal clashes, Boko Haram insurgency, cult clashes, kidnapping, and ritual killings, among others. The deaths are 176 more than the 500 recorded in January 2017. The 1,351 deaths recorded…

It is not enough to ask Ndigbo to ignore the eviction notice and death threat issued to them by a so-called Coalition of Northern Youths, neither is it sufficient for the Federal Government to promise to deal with anyone making hate statements. Knowing the nature of Nigeria and what happened in the past – the massacre of Ndigbo in 1966 and the resultant civil war, Nigeria and Ndigbo cannot afford to treat the unconstitutional eviction notice with levity. In a country where security, justice and peace are sacrosanct, the talk right now would not be whether or not the…

The #BringBackOurGirls Group (BBOG) on Friday, expressed its disappointment with the way and manner President Muhammadu Buhari was handling the issue of the Chibok girls who were abducted in more than 816 days ago. The group, in its One Year Engagement with the President commemoration, urged the President to do away with empty talks and match his words with actions. Speaking on behalf of the group, Aisha Yesufu, one of the leading members the group, said, “Absolutely, as members of BBOG, we are very, very disappointed with the fact that everything is coming out so sluggishly and so slowly.” Amina…

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has directed chief medical directors (CMDs) and medical directors (MDs) of Federal Government-owned tertiary health institutions to fill the vacancies created by resident doctors who are on strike. The resident doctors embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday. Spokesperson of the ministry, Boade Akinola said the directive was contained in a circular signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Amina Shamaki. “It has come to the notice of the management of the ministry that some resident doctors in your establishment have voluntarily withdrawn from the Residency Training Programme by refusing to report for training without…

Emotions ran high in Chibok, Borno State on Wednesday May 18, as the first of 219 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents over two years ago was brought to the village for identification. Amina Ali was rescued on Tuesday night in Bale village at the edge of the Sambisa forest by a Chibok vigilante group which handed her over to the military. The girls were seized by the insurgents from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State in April 2014 as they stayed in school to write their final examinations. Since then no one had set eyes on…

The Senator representing Borno Central, Baba Kaka Garbai has said that the story that the insurgents have been degraded is nothing but a lie as the terror group still hold on strong to about 50 percent of troubled Borno State. Garbai who spoke to journalists on Saturday evening during a condolence visit to Dalori village where 65 persons were reported killed last week by the insurgents said, the truth about the accomplishment of the military in Borno State was never truly spoken as the Boko Haram and the Nigerian nation are presently administering about the same territories in the state….

A one-day seminar on “Promoting National Unity and Security Awareness Programme at Independence ,” has ended in Owerri, September 30. The awareness programme was organized by the National Orientation Agency, Imo State. In his address at the occasion, the State Director, Mr. Vitus Ekeocha said the theme of the programme effectively captured the problem of perception as the missing link between National Integration and a hitch-free security system as the nation attained 55 years of independence. Mr. Ekeocha, whose address was read by the Deouty Director Programmes, Pastor Emma Offurum, highlighted recent security challenges facing the country, especially insurgency…

Huge speculations have continued to shroud the whereabouts of the kidnapped Chibok girls. Where the girls have been taken to, have remained an embarrassing mystery to many Nigerians. Some say there was a kidnap and others say it is a fluke. Nothing can be more confusing than confusion itself and, right now, there is no better way to describe the situation with those innocent schoolgirls, kidnapped 14 months ago from their school in Borno State, than utter confusion. When news broke on April 15th, 2014 about the girls’ abduction, the whole story sounded strange and untrue yet believable because…

Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a town, south of Borno, killing over 24 people and injuring dozens. Security sources said the terrorists stormed Kwajafa, the hometown of one-time chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Fulani Kwajafa on Sunday. The insurgent, who rode to the towns in Volkswagen Golf cars in the evening, gathered residents together, claiming they came to preach. “They, however, opened fire on the people as soon as they gathered in an open place”, a source from the area told Daily Sun on phone. Some of the residents, who were in a mosque, were…

Recently The Leader interviewed Rev. Fr. Law Ike, a priest of the Claretian Missionary Order who was on mission in the Catholic diocese of Maidugiri Borno State – a hot bed for the dreaded Islamist sect Boko Haram. In this Interview Fr. Lawrence shares his experiences being a missionary in the Boko Haram territory of Borno State. He was lucky to escape with his life back to Eastern Nigeria The Leader: In which Diocese are you working? Fr. Law: Ok father, I am working in the Diocese of Maiduguri Bornu state but it cuts across three states: Bornu, Adamawa…

– Still no News of seized Chibok Girls Days after Nigeria’s military raised hopes with the announcement that Islamic extremists had agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word on the fate of the 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months. Officials had said talks would resume in neighboring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation as at Thursday that those negotiations had resumed. The official silence raises many questions, especially since Boko Haram’s leaders have not confirmed that a truce has been agreed. Relatives of the girls abducted from a boarding school…

The Islamics extremist group, Boko Haram, has seized more towns along Nigeria’s northeastern border with Cameroon and is adopting a strategy of encouraging civilians to stay, witnesses have said, as the militants pursue their new aim to carve out an “Islamic caliphate” under their black and white flag. Nigerian army soldiers fled when hundreds of insurgents seized military armored personnel carriers, trucks and motorcycles attacked Michika on Sunday, said Marry Dauda, a fleeing resident. She said an air force jet fighter arrived, but did nothing but surveillance. “The jet continued to hover over the town without attacking the terrorists,” she…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday announced the crash of a Nigerian Air Force helicopter in the south of Bama, Borno State.The helicopter, Mi-35, was said to be on a training mission in the area when it crashed due to technical fault.The DHQ, in a statement, while noting that “it is established that the crash is not as a result of any enemy action,” however, said it had commenced investigation to unravel the cause of the incident, which it promised to make public.The statement, signed by the Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade and made available to Daily Sun, read : “A…

I read this interesting piece captioned, “Imo celebrates Freedom Day” in the online edition of the Leader newspaper of Sunday, May 11, 2014. I was happy that freedom can be celebrated in a troubled Nigeria, particularly in my own state, Imo. Who wouldn’t be happy, after all? Who wouldn’t want his people to celebrate freedom? I mean it, I was happy. The story described how the governor of Imo state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, on Tuesday, May 6, unveiled the magnificent statue symbolizing freedom in Imo state.He inaugurated the “Freedom Square” to celebrate “freedom from the shackles of political manipulations and…

The Boko Haram members are now fleeing from Sambisa forest to local government areas across Borno State owing to strange developments in the forest, believed to be a spiritual attack. One of the arrested sect members, Kolo Mustapha, told Dailypost that snakes were attacking them in the forest. “They (our leaders) told us that it was the people of Chibok that are hunting us through diabolical means in the form of snakes. “Most of us are fleeing because there are too many snakes now in the forest, once they bite, they disappeared and the victims do not last for 24…

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped at least 20 young mothers near a town in northeast of Nigeria where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted nearly two months ago. News of the abduction came after gunmen from the militant group slaughtered hundreds of villagers in the north-east of the country. There were conflicting reports of how many women were abducted from the nomadic settlement near Chibok in Borno state, with one local leader putting the number as high as 40, according to AFP. The latest kidnappings, which happened on Saturday in and around the village of Garkin Fulani, five miles from…

Suspected Boko Haram militants have launched an attack on Barderi, near Maiduguri, Borno State killing about 45. Survivors told BBC on Thursday that the attackers said they had come to preach to the crowd, before opening fire on them. The militants came into the village of Barderi, near the University of Maiduguri on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday night, telling people to gather to hear them preach, but as they gathered to listen, they turned the guns on the “congregation”. Meanwhile, residents and officials say at least 200 people were killed in a wave of attacks last week….

Hon. Victor Iheanacho, the Interim Management Committee Chairman of Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, ensured that the 2014 edition of the Children’s Day celebration was low-keyed. As mark of solidarity with the abducted school girls at Chibok Government Secondary School, Borno State, Hon. Iheanacho organized the celebration without fanfare, pomp and pageantry. There were no canopies provided at Chioma Ajunwa Stadium adjacent to Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Council Secretariat. Most of the 56 participating schools displayed placards in protest against the abduction of the school girls. The inscriptions on some of the placards include: “Free our Sisters…

As international pressure keeps mounting on Nigeria to find victims of Chibok abduction, President Goodluck Jonathan has poured cold water on the possibility of releasing Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the over 200 schoolgirls abducted from the Borno State town. Speaking to the British Africa Minister Mark Simmonds, the president said categorically that there would be no such thing. “He made it very clear that there will be no negotiation with Boko Haram that involves a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners,” said Simmonds who met with President Jonathan to discuss the international rescue missions for the kidnapped girls….